Touring Champagne at the Burgundy Border with Lamoureux

All my French friends always ask me if I am going to the south of France on my trip. I tell them yes—I am going to Les Riceys! It is just three miles away from the northern border with Burgundy here, and has the same soil as in Chablis, the famous Kimmeridgian clay. Not only is the soil different than the chalk of the Marne, so is the climate—here it is far more continental with colder winters and warmer summers. Luckily today was picture-perfect French spring weather, and I hope that I’ll just be carrying around my winter clothes and not wrapping up in them.

Today I toured the vineyards and tasted the wines of my friend Vivien Lamoureux, whom we have been importing now for 10 years. He even gave me a pruning lesson! It was great to see him. He took me to the parcel where he grows his almost two acres of Pinot Blanc, and we pruned a bit of Pinot Noir next to it. We also tasted the whole range, including his surprisingly delicious 2020 “Florine” which is half and half Pinot Noir from the old vines that we pruned, and Chardonnay from the Alexandrine plot a kilometer up the road.

The standout of the tasting was his Jean-Jacques Lamoureux "Les Amoureux" Pinot Blanc Champagne $49.99, which we still have a few bottles left of. This wine only gets made in years when he has enough yield to fill the press—something that happens more rarely than he would like because of spring frosts. It combines the lovely flowery bouquet of the grape variety with fine baguette toast from the lees contact, and the richness is balanced perfectly by a straight line of racy acidity. It is dosed low at 5 grams per liter, and the best part about it is the minerality… It has the expression of Kimmeridgian clay, like a great Chablis on the finish, but with the virility and brilliance of Champagne. What a treat!

A toast to you!

- Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer